The tailgating Jeep.

 This is a guest post by Ken B. Ken is a guy who can never stop tinkering. He started with a travel trailer, went to a fifth wheel, and now drives a 32’ Dynamax Isata 4 motorhome. In his first year, he put 13k miles on the rig, traveling from Canada to Disney’s Fort Wilderness. Please help me welcome him!

Ok, introductions and disclaimers out of the way, let’s first look at what is the biggest downfall of a motorhome? It’s simply the fact that your camper is also your driver… want to go see the sights? You gotta break camp or tow a car.

For our first year, we went without a “toad” (a vehicle towed behind the motorhome: get it? “towed” … “toad”?). It wasn’t awful, but we could really see where it would be handy. In the fall we purchased our new toad, a 2017 Jeep Wrangler . I have a thing for Jeeps and I’ll talk later why they’re really the ideal tow vehicle.

There are really only three ways to tow a vehicle behind your motorhome.

Each has their advantages and minuses, but I opted for a flat tow.

The two biggest advantages are that there isn’t anything extra to store at the campsite and it’s quick and easy to hook up.

As I mentioned, the Jeep Wrangler is the ideal flat tow vehicle . There’s no steering wheel lock and has a transfer case that allows for disconnection between the transmission and wheels. Plus, it’s a Jeep… they’re hella cool!

The minuses to flat towing are that there’s the most equipment for it to work properly.

Here’s a breakdown:

This post will cover the first and most important piece of the puzzle.

Whoa, there are some options for tow bars! The prices range from $200 and way up. Roadmaster is known for some of the highest quality tow equipment  and is where I started my research.

I worked with Roadmaster and got their latest and greatest tow bar, the Nighthawk.

The Nighthawk is the world’s first illuminated tow bar . You might ask, why is an illuminated tow bar important? It’s important because there are no lights between the motorhome and the rear lights of the toad to illuminate the area, making the space very dark. This tow bar lights up each side and vastly increases safety while towing at night.

On top of the illumination feature, it also has the longest tow arms produced. This increases stability and safety while towing.

Because of the non-binding latches, hooking up and disconnecting the tow bar is a breeze.

The package is neat and tidy. The safety cables and wiring harness are fed through the arms; they’re not just dangling below.

When not in use, the arms collapse and fold over allowing its cover to be secured to protect it from the elements.

So far, we have about 3,000 miles towing with the Nighthawk  and I’m ecstatic with its performance. What I’m about to say next will shock anyone that knows me: I can’t find anything that I would change. Heck, even I’m surprised. It says a lot for me to say that about a product.

I wanted the best and that’s what I got.